Free options for creating and managing citations. Created for LibraryLinkNJ Technology workshops.

1. Citation and Research
Software
Siobhan McCarthy
NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Technology Committee
Prepared for LibraryLinkNJ Technology Speed Dating
Parsippany Public Library
January 14, 2014

2. Citation Management Software
Free Options
Zotero
http://www.zotero.org/
 Stand-alone or browser extension
 Plugins for open source office suites and Microsoft Word
Mendeley
http://www.mendeley.com/
 Stand-alone or browser extension
Microsoft Word (or other Office software)
 Not necessarily free, but already installed
 Allows for entering references into a database within the
document, creating citations or reference lists as you go

3. Citation Management Software
Commercial Options
 Subscriptions frequently available through educational institutions
(usually colleges and universities, some high schools)
 Fully featured programs often cost-prohibitive for individuals
Examples:
 NoodleTools
 EndNote, EndNoteWeb
 Refworks

4. Citation Generators
Quickly create citations by entering publication information into fields
and choosing which format to export.
EasyBib
http://www.easybib.com/
 MLA only, other formats available with upgrade
 Acceptable for most high school students, or undergraduate writing
courses
Son of Citation Machine
http://citationmachine.net/
 Create citations one at a time
Noodle Tools Express
 Free version of NoodleBib

5. Online Citation Guides
Citation guides created by publishers and/or educational
institutions, often by the writing centers.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
 Commonly referred to by instructors
 Comprehensive, including examples of research papers, annotated
bibliographies, and many citation formats
 Allows for reproduction of content with permission
Bedford/St. Martins Press, “Research and Documentation Online”
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/
 a.k.a. “Hacker Handbooks”
 Series of handbooks on various citation formats, with most content
available for free online
 Includes many examples of in-text citations.

6. Internet Research
Online bookmarking software can be helpful in the research process, though these
services do not export citations.
Diigo
http://www.diigo.com
 Browser extensions, bookmarklets, and stand-alone iOS and Android apps available
 Ability to save highlights and annotations to websites
 Upgrade account for archiving
Delicious
http://www.delicious.com
 Browser bookmarklets
 API available for creating link rolls on external websites
Pinboard
http://www.pinboard.in
 One time sign-up fee required
 Streamlined, minimal social features
 Upgrade ($25/yr) to archival account

7. Bibliographies
WorldCat
http://www.worldcat.org/
 Accounts allow users to create lists of individual titles
 Export into a reference list, or in a format readable by citation
management software
 Users can set “favorite” libraries to track where books might be
available
Your Local Library OPAC
e.g. http://www.bccls.org/
 Many ILSs allow for the creation of lists of materials, which can be
exported in a specific bibliographic format

8. But before you cite…
Slight differences between citation generators are common, and the result is only as
good as the information put in. Or it might not be necessary to even use citation
software at all.
Encourage students to try to construct the citation themselves
 Intimidation is a common reason for wanting to use a citation generator instead of
doing citations by hand.
 Citation management software not time-effective if only creating a couple of
citations.
Garbage in, garbage out
 Double check information being entered into the citation generator for accuracy.
 Compare the results of a generator against other sources
e.g. local ILS citation to a citation example from Hacker, or the Purdue OWL
Suggest to the student that they consult their instructor if they have questions about
formatting or sources.